Joe Edwards' FA Cup diary: Plymouth's captain on relegation scrap, Liverpool and taking on Man City

Plymouth Argyle, it seems, are on a mission to keep the ‘magic’ of the FA Cup alive this season.

After knocking Brentford out in the third round, the Championship club shocked the world by beating the runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool in their next outing. Their reward: a trip to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Should they claim another remarkable upset on Saturday, they will become the first team from outside the top flight to eliminate Premier League opposition in three consecutive rounds since Wigan Athletic in 2018.

Plymouth captain and stalwart Joe Edwards has penned an exclusive FA Cup diary for The Athletic, charting his and the club’s journey over the last two months. It includes a stint in the dugout as caretaker and punditry work, all conducted to the backdrop of a relegation battle in the second tier.

It’s a fun ride, if one that has not been without its bumps.

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New Year’s Eve, 2024

Plymouth announce they have parted ways with head coach Wayne Rooney. Defeat at Oxford United left the club bottom and winless in nine, so assistant head coach Kevin Nancekivell is asked to take over as caretaker. Nancekivell — “Nance” — asks Edwards to help him in the dugout. The right-back has been out since September with a hamstring injury.

It’s a quick turnaround, with a home game against Bristol City the next day.

It all happened really quickly.

Nance rang me and said, ‘Look, Wayne’s gone and they’ve asked me to take over.’ The CEO Andrew Parkinson asked him if he needed any help so he said, ‘Can I bring Joe along?’ We’ve been together at Argyle for years and it was always a running joke we’d end up working together. I’d do anything to help.

Next thing I know I’m in the black coaches’ kit, rather than the players’ grey one, and in the staff room. Andrew rang me the next day to check Nance hadn’t thrown me under the bus and that I actually wanted the role! That was it. Quite informal, really. Straight into it. Training, then the game the next day.

The boys gave me a bit of stick. Usually we’d all sit together to eat, but now I was with Nance, so there was a bit of banter. But they didn’t really make it difficult for me. The respect they showed was amazing.

As captain I’d have different responsibilities to some of the players, and I’d often be in meetings with the staff or acting as a go-between, so I was used to that side of things. Plus I’ve taken a few meetings with the boys where I’ve had to stand up and talk. I’m quite comfortable doing that. I’m doing my A Licence (UEFA’s most senior coaching badge) so this is all really useful.

Most of the prep for the game had been done, but it was a real eye-opener in terms of how much Nance did. He’s pretty much organised everything up in the office, from what I can hear and see, and made it very easy for me. He’s got books from every session from every day of every season for however long he’s been at Plymouth.

To see that level of detail was amazing.

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New Year’s Day, 2025: Plymouth 2 Bristol City 2, Championship

On the morning of the game we had an issue — one of the centre-halves was injured, so we had to make a late change. Otherwise, though, the game went OK.

When you’re not playing, you’re sat in the office in the build up and there’s a lot of nothingness as you wait for everyone to arrive. But then you’re out doing the warm ups and the pre-match. I said my bit, then Nance finished it off.

When coaching you’re always thinking, ‘What can we do better?’ One thing I found tricky to begin with was thinking about making subs. Normally we’d be enjoying the game; now we’re thinking about who to bring on; discussing things without the players hearing. But we went 2-1 down so we had to make a change to get back into the game.

Thankfully we scored a late equaliser. It was a good start.

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Plymouth’s next match is at Stoke City, who have a new manager of their own in Mark Robins. Under Edwards and Nancekivell, they grind out a 0-0 draw, their first away clean sheet of the season.

Tuesday, January 7

It’s been enjoyable seeing everything that goes on behind the scenes.

As a player you come in, train, do your gym work and go home, and don’t think about too much else. My days are three times as long now. I’m still doing my rehab alongside the coaching, so I’ve been spending pretty much all day here.

We’ve lost Gibbo (defender Lewis Gibson joined Preston North End), but getting that clean sheet has helped to galvanise everyone.

It was an intense session today; the workload was high but it was quite non-tactical. It was about keeping spirits high, not really thinking about the game. We’ve just come out of the Christmas period where it’s games, shape, walkthroughs. So today was more enjoyable, but we still got the work done; a lot of sprints and short-sided games, a little competition on the the passing, that kind of thing.

We also know we may need to make changes for Brentford on Saturday, so we need to see who’s fit and ready.

Friday, January 10

Thursday and Friday is about match prep. Thursday was working on us ‘out of possession’ and today was ‘in possession’.

The analysts were going through Brentford’s team and watching their goals, and some of them were amazing. We were all there in the office thinking, ‘This could be anything…’ But as long as we give a good account of ourselves, that’s all we can do.

We travelled to London, had dinner at the hotel and relaxed in our rooms. Snacks were put on at 9.30pm for those who wanted a bit more later on. Then, it’s sleep ahead of the game.

Later that evening, Miron Muslic is announced as the new head coach. He’ll be in the stands for the Brentford game.

Saturday, January 11: Brentford 0 Plymouth 1, FA Cup third round

The morning was a bit tricky. A couple of the lads who were starting pulled out so we had to make a few changes and go through the game plan again in the team meeting. We’d worked on everything in the week, so to change it last minute was a little test for us.

But we went there with excitement. Their new stadium looks brilliant and the facilities were great.

The first 20 minutes were key; the lads did well in their shape and Brentford weren’t causing us too many problems. Our fans were incredible; they were directly opposite us and I could see my wife and family in the crowd, which was nice. This obviously wasn’t the Brentford we see in the Premier League, but we knew they had the big guns on the bench who they’ll need to bring on at some point.

Eight minutes from time, with the game still goalless, Morgan Whittaker picks up possession on the right flank, 25 yards from goal…

Morgan cut in and cut in and you’re begging him to shoot. He just kept going and kept going. I thought he’d lost the chance, so to see him hit the back of the net was fantastic.

We all went a bit mad. Nance and I shared a little look as if to say, ‘We could actually do this’.

What a moment for @Argyle as Morgan Whittaker fires them into the #EmiratesFACup fourth round 😍 pic.twitter.com/TceVkPnIXO

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 11, 2025

Full time was a really special moment, especially for Nance. He’s been here so long, and lives and breathes it. He’s been right down to the bottom and come all the way back up. He’s seen everything.

I thought he was going to fall over, the way he ran across to the fans. There were 2,000 of them there and they hadn’t seen an away win in so long. The boys were fantastic and it was a nice touch that they pushed me and Nance forward to get some applause.

Thomas Frank is a really, really nice fella — a great bloke and a brilliant manager — so I was really excited to speak to him. Their staff invited us into their office after and I got to pick his brains about the game, but also about football in general.

He said he knew about Morgan from the clips they’d seen, his strength of cutting on to his left foot, so he was really disappointed with his players. It was Yoane Wissa who didn’t really make an attempt to tackle, which his manager wasn’t too impressed with… We were laughing because their next two games were Manchester City and Liverpool. But they were great with us.

There was no big party in London, though. A celebration in the changing room but then back home to recover with Oxford at home on Tuesday. It was just nice Nance and I ended our stint on a high.

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Monday, January 12

It’s a big day for Plymouth and Edwards. The fourth round draw pairs Plymouth with Premier League leaders Liverpool, so there is an extra buzz about the place — and that’s even before Muslic is introduced to the squad. He makes a great first impression with a rousing speech that goes viral on social media. It’s Edwards’ first day back on the grass, too, after four months out.

I knew the manager was coming in on his own, with no staff at this point, but I wasn’t sure whether to come in and help on that side of things or as a player. I ended up coming in like the other players and introduced myself at breakfast, and Miron was like, ‘Joe, where have you been? I’ve been upstairs in the office waiting for you!’

I wasn’t sure if he was joking at first, but it was all light hearted. So I was still involved in the coaching side for a bit longer as well as doing my rehab.

We were all instantly impressed by the way he holds the room. His passion came through straight away. It was one of the best first meetings I’ve seen; he’s very clear in his message and delivers it with enthusiasm and passion.

Miron Muslic’s first words to the squad 👊 pic.twitter.com/tcrV5HTFLO

— Plymouth Argyle FC (@Argyle) January 13, 2025

He’s made some subtle changes, but nothing OTT, and spoke to me and Nance about what the players need and like, and his non-negotiables: train with intensity, play with passion and be hard to play against. His standards are a massive part of it and it’s had a real impact on us.

All managers are different. Wayne was a good man-manager and had a great relationship with the players. He was very sociable and commanded respect from his playing career. Miron’s got that intensity to his side, too, and training has reflected that as well.

Everyone’s talking about the draw. I was a little bit 50-50 to be honest: buzzing for the boys, but I know I won’t be fit for the game. It is amazing for the club. There is a string of Liverpool connections here as well, so there as a lot of excitement.

Plymouth draw 1-1 at home against Oxford in Muslic’s first game, but it’s followed up by a 1-0 home defeat by Queens Park Rangers four days later.

The buildup to the next match, against promotion-chasing Burnley, is dominated by speculation around the future of Whittaker. Burnley, as well as Middlesbrough, have bid for him. Whittaker is not in the starting lineup and, speaking before the game, Muslic claims the forward was selected but didn’t arrive in time to be included. Whittaker later refutes this.

The first half is a disaster as Plymouth concede five goals without reply. It’s a tough gig, too, for Edwards who is providing expert analysis on the game for Sky Sports. Two days later, Whittaker completes his move to Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee.

That was just a really bad evening for us.

Morgan’s a great lad and he did brilliantly for us when he was here, but he had an opportunity to go elsewhere and that’s what he did. As players, the transfer window is always a little bit up in the air and there can be changes. But what happened against Burnley wasn’t down to Morgan. We just didn’t perform.

Results like that look like they reflect the club’s situation and generate a lot of noise on the outside. I don’t actually think things are as bad as that scoreline suggests.

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Saturday, January 25: Sunderland 2 Plymouth 2, Championship

Sunderland next, the longest trip of the season. Preparations are thrown slightly awry when the team have to fly a day earlier, less than 24 hours after the Burnley game, to avoid Storm Eowyn. A stoppage-time goal from Nathanael Ogbeta secures a vital point.

We didn’t even have a day at home to recover. We trained and then flew straight to Sunderland, but being around each other after such a disappointing result was actually important. You could tell the boys were low and it is my responsibility to pick them up.

I travelled up with the squad and, along with the other leaders like Adam Randell and Jordan Houghton, helped galvanise them. No one expected us to get anything up there, especially after the Burnley result. So claiming that late point felt like a major turning point.

Plymouth take this confidence into their game against another promotion hopeful, West Bromwich Albion. Edwards is again on duty for Sky Sports. A Ryan Hardie double, including a late penalty, secures a vital win.

Plymouth’s very own Joe Edwards dissects the Pilgrims’ tactical changes under new manager Miron Muslic – which helped them earn a point away against Sunderland 🔎📋 pic.twitter.com/K3YxhpAkdu

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 1, 2025

Wednesday, February 5

The results against Sunderland and West Brom totally lifted the place. We had some fresh bodies in the building, too, and everyone was at it. There’s obviously a bit of tension among the players as to who may or may not play against Liverpool, but we know we have a big game a few days later, against Millwall, which is actually more important to us. So the manager has to weigh up what to do.

We’ve done a lot of work on our structure, and that will continue all week. We know we are coming up against probably the best team in the world at the moment. So it’s been a lot of work aimed at how to defend against them, and how we could hurt them. We are really prepared.

Sunday, February 9: Plymouth 1 Liverpool 0, FA Cup fourth round

Liverpool select a second-string side. Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are absent, but there are still seven internationals in the side, with Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones on the bench.

The gaffer kept me involved, helping the staff with the warm-up drills and making sure the boys were ready. You could sense this was special. There had been a real excitement around the city all week, but that intensified in the hours before kick off.

The one surprise around their selection was the strength of the bench, with not that many household names to call upon if things were not going well for them. That automatically gave us a little lift. If you can stay in the game, you know they don’t have many game-changers to come on and affect it.

The players were impressed with Luis Diaz in particular, how sharp he was and his first touch — always spot on and where it needed to be. They were surprised by Diogo Jota, too. Despite his height, he was so strong. But to be up against players we watch on a weekly basis was a great experience for all of us.

We needed to stick to our structure. We’d done so much work on that in the week, and it was the perfect game plan.

The boys executed it brilliantly. We covered, we tackled and we won our duels. Then, when we had the ball, we got it into the box from set pieces, long throws, whatever, hoping to get something out of it. That’s how our goal came about; a long throw, then a handball.

Eight minutes into the second half, Harvey Elliott is penalised and Plymouth win a penalty. Hardie sends Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way. That is redemption for the Scot, who missed a penalty at this stage of the competition three years ago against Chelsea.

We knew, for the last five-10 minutes, they were going to throw it into the box a bit more. It’d be a bit more hectic. But Conor (Hazard) made some fantastic saves which kept us in it.

I was really confident in the boys. I actually didn’t feel too nervous watching on and we defended really well; there were some fantastic blocks, bodies-on-the-line moments, and everything you’d expect coming up against that Liverpool side. It was brilliant. To see us hold on and secure the win… the scenes were amazing.

Liverpool were brilliant with us afterwards, despite losing. Their players were more than happy to hand out their shirts, take photos. My kids came down into the tunnel and had a few photos with Arne Slot, and Curtis Jones gave them his shirt.

To do that in front of the fans, and all of our friends and families… a wonderful day. But no big celebrations, sadly! There’s a big game to come on Wednesday.

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Plymouth draw Manchester City in the fifth round but, before they can think about that, they have four games in 10 days — and two against sides in and around them in the relegation zone. They need to start picking up wins to climb out of the bottom three.

Three days after the Liverpool success, they thrash Millwall 5-1. Then comes a 2-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, a point at Luton Town and a frustrating 1-1 draw at home against 10-man Cardiff City.

Monday, February 24

It’s been an intense couple of weeks so the manager gave us the last two days off. It’s been good mentally to switch off, refresh and spend time with the kids. This weekend was my sister’s little boy’s party so we had a kids’ get-together on the Sunday.

Wednesday, February 26

The last two days have been tough. I’ve been back training for a couple of weeks now and I’m in contention for the Manchester City game.

The way football is these days, especially compared to 10 years ago when I played in the Championship, it’s so much more physical, with a lot more high-speed running, so the strength and conditioning is a key part of the preparation now. A few years ago it was based on how you felt. You could influence it.

Now it’s mainly all done for you; you’re almost told how much you need to do or if you need to do extra or if you need to do less than usual.

Thursday, February 27

City played last night and beat Tottenham 1-0. I watch a lot more of the Championship than the Premier League, mainly to see our opponents and who I might come up directly against. I’m a Manchester United fan, too, which is another reason to try to avoid watching at the minute, for obvious reasons!

But when you’re due to play a top team, if you look at the bench from their previous league game then you can imagine the majority of those subs will be starting against you. Then I saw City’s bench at Tottenham and the names on that… that’s still one of the strongest teams you’ll ever come up against. So the boys are excited.

We’ve done our analysis and watched the clips — watching some of the best players in the world and knowing you’re coming up against them in a few days’ time.

Training today was a bit lighter; warm up boxes, and a bit of technical and shape work within our units: defenders, midfielders and striker. We did a few set plays as well. They’ll be key for us.

Then it’s making sure all the tickets are sorted! Which has been a main bit of my last fortnight or so — another part of my role as captain. As you can imagine, they’re sought after so I’ve been working with the club to sort everything out for the boys’ friends and families so they can all come and watch.

Friday, February 28

Another fairly light session today. We went through shape in and out of possession and made sure everyone knew their jobs. More set plays, too. Then it was an hour’s drive to Exeter Airport and a flight to Manchester.

The odds are against them. City are often ruthless in these ties, especially at home. They have won their last 18 FA Cup games against sides from a lower division by an aggregate score of 69-9. But upsets are there to be made.

It’s going to be a great occasion. The fans deserve it. Hopefully we put on a performance to make them proud. We’re ready to give everything we’ve got.

(Top photo: Isabelle Field/Plymouth Argyle via Getty Images)